Au Contraire
by CHAILYN
Summary: Sam and Bela find themselves trapped in a haunted mansion together. A few hours creates an evoluton of difficult feelings that makes them see each other in a different light as much as they don't want to, and do everything in their power not to.
1. Chapter 1

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Au Contraire 

**Part 1

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_A challenge of sorts that I was given after watching __**Red Sky At Morning **__again, which means, yes, __**season three spoilers. **__You've been warned, please don't flame me and tell me I ruined something for you. Everything up to __**A Very Supernatural Christmas**__, just to be on the safe side, apart from that it's spoiler free!_

_**Summary: A request to write a Sam/Bela story. What happens when they are locked up in a haunted mansion together. Some humor, some angst, some protective Sam (I was in the mood), and some Sam and Bela bickering. Hopefully not pure fluff, I did my best to make it have a bit of substance.**

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"Well, we might as well make the best of it." Bela sighed; once they discovered there was most certainly no way out. This was not how she had pictured her day going. She had a buyer all lined up for one of her newest finds and it was going to be bitch to try and explain why she wasn't their to make the trade; especially now that the five hundred grand had already been wired into one of her accounts.

"Make the best of it?" Sam echoed, she had to be freaking kidding. They'd been shot at, played hide and seek with projectile knives, and now he was trapped in this damn haunted house with no one but Bela for company. The only way that it could be any worse was if he'd actually been shot or been turned into a giant pincushion of the butcher knife variety.

This was hell.

To top it off, he had no idea where Dean was, or if his brother was even okay—and he was trapped with a conniving bitch that he was sure would easily sell him out, as long as the price was to her liking. Yeah, sure, they could make the best of it. He just didn't know what the best part was—that they weren't _yet_ dead?

"Well, fine, we could take the Sam Winchester route and sit here and pout like a little girl at the fact that we're trapped with no hope thus far of getting out of this hell hole, _unless_, someone—and by that I mean your idiot of a brother—rescues us."

"How do I know you're not even a part of this?" Sam accused, not like she hadn't screwed them over before. "A ploy to keep Dean and I busy while you make a quick buck?"

"If I was do you really think I'd lock myself up with you?" Bela rolled her eyes, she was so much better than that. "Really, Sam, I get that you don't trust me—

"Trust you?" Sam exclaimed, what was wrong with her! "What do you expect? I know you Bella, you've shot me, and we both know that you're a murderer."

Bela looked slightly taken back for a moment and Sam almost felt guilty but she recovered quickly.

"No more so than you are, I'd imagine." Bela said coolly. She could play at this game too, she'd done her homework when it came to the Winchesters, she was too good at what she did not to have.

"What do you mean by that?" Sam questioned, she couldn't possibly referring to...no, no way she was.

"Well, your story of course. Sam, I know all about your family, you and your brother...your father."

"You don't know anything about my family." Sam replied obstinately, glaring at her rather similarly to the look that Dean gave her the last time that they met up and he threatened to shoot her for telling Gordon where they were.

Hmm, she thought with a slight smile, they certainly _are_ brothers.

"Really?" Bela questioned, raising an eyebrow, surprised he'd think it would be so hard to find out about the famous Winchesters. "Your mom burst into flames on the ceiling of your nursery when you were six months old. John became obsessed with getting revenge on the demon for killing his wife and used his ex-marine past and military knowledge to hunting and dragged his kids right down with him. You and Dean hunted your entire life until seven years ago when you just fell off of the radar completely. About four years later you pop back up and start hunting with your brother, and your father disappears—did you not get along with him? Because, quite the coincidence. Anyhow, one year later, papa Winchester mysteriously dies after a hunt...then a year later...here we are, as rumors abound the obsessed demon hunting Winchester brothers. Did I miss anything?"

You have no idea...Sam thought silently. He was intrigued by her mention of rumors however, he figured with Gordon dead and gone...clearly the rumors didn't stop there.

"What do you know Bela?"

"Well. If you listen to the rumors..." Bela smiled, "You're quite the interesting specimen."

"And Dean?" Sam could barely breathe, she couldn't possibly know. Only three people knew and he knew they wouldn't tell.

"Boring. Not like you. Dean's just another vengeance obsessed hunter. Very poetic, not, however, interesting. You are fascinating though. That is--_if_ you believe the rumors."

"What rumors, Bela?" god he hated her, he really, really hated her, he couldn't help but to wonder if she was doing this for pure amusement.

"Fascinating stuff, it is. A psychic, destined to fight on hell's side. The anti-christ, of some sort, or so I've heard. Opened the gate to hell, and let out lots of nasty little things too."

"Not very accurate." Sam told her, breathing a sigh of relief that some secrets were still secrets. "You might want to double check your facts."

"Don't get me wrong, I don't believe the hype. Anyways, Dean seems much more the type, you don't have it in you. You're not altogether innocent, I'm sure, if you were you never would have helped me."

"What do you mean by that?" Sam wasn't sure but it sounded like she was insinuating that he'd killed someone too.

"Well, we know I did something, but how about you Sam? Did you get daddy killed? A friend, maybe? All that time you were off of the radar..."

"I was at school."

"Shocker." Bela said lightly. "But I always thought that you had a little something Dean was missing; a bit more polished...Backwoods State College, hm?"

"Stanford." Sam shot back, with a self satisfied smirk.

"Impressive, however makes a girl wonder...why would someone leave the Ivy League life, probably a cute girlfriend...for this life squatting in empty houses, crappy motels...hunting with your brother?"

"None of your damn business."

"Struck a nerve, have I?" She laughed.

"Who'd you murder?" Sam countered; they didn't have to play it nice. "How could you kill your own family?"

"I could ask you, why'd you let your girlfriend die?" Bella replied coolly, she barely seemed affected by Sam's remark.

For the first time in his life, Sam nearly hit a woman. He was distracted however, by a dark stain that seemed to be spreading near down past her shoulder.

"You were shot." Sam said his voice softening, ignoring his disdain, and anger, a little shocked that she bared up against the pain so well. He hadn't seen a bit of pain on her face, she certainly was good at hiding her emotions, better than he had even guessed.

Sam moved closer wanting to check on the wound and see how bad it was. "Take off your jacket." He ordered.

"I'll be fine." She said, allowing him to gently tug the jacket. "Eye for an eye, yeah?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I shoot you, that bitch demon shoots me…" Bela was referring to Ruby, who clearly no longer decided to be an ally of the Winchesters. Sam could just see his brother saying 'told you so, Sammy.'

"It's still lodged in there pretty deep." Sam said his eyebrows furrowing in thought, trying to figure out what they could do with definite limited supplies. "Do you have tweezers?"

"In my bag." Bela gestured to her bag, lying a few feet away from them. If he wanted to pluck that ingrown eyebrow, she was all for it.

Sam walked back over with a determined, and somewhat apologetic look in his eyes. Bela suddenly figured it out and backed up a few steps.

"Wait! You're not…no, no, no. I'll pass up on the butchering job, thank you."

"Bela! I can't stop the bleeding until the bullet is out. Do you _want _to bleed to death?"

Bela grimaced, bleeding to death wasn't on her to-do list. But neither was being butchered in a disgustingly, dirty, dilapidated, haunted mansion.

"You've done this before?" She questioned.

"Dozens of times, and have had it done to myself even more times--like when you shot me." Sam tried to keep it light, even she had to be terrified at the thought of bleeding to death. Being shot wasn't exactly a walk in the park.

"They have hospitals for that, you know that, right?"

"Not when you're a fugitive." Sam replied, trying to get a good hold on her shoulder without causing more pain. He, at least, usually was partly unconscious and reaping the benefits of a large bottle of whiskey at this point. "Stay still." He ordered.

She paled slightly, the only expression of fear he'd seen cross her face, and his voice softened.

"Lay down, it will be easier." Sam said.

Bela silently obeyed, suddenly finding herself lacking in a witty retort.

"I'm not going to lie to you," He said, his big soft brown eyes filled with compassion. "This is going to hurt, if you need to scream or cry…it makes it easier sometimes."

"Very reassuring--" Bela's voice quickly cut off as he began to dig for it. She dealt with the pin silently, gritting her teeth, with the occasional cry of pain. A steady stream of tears fell silently once he really began to dig.

Sam looked down at her once, and the look in her eyes was so…not like her that he looked away trying to just get it done fast. She seemed a lot less the conniving bitch and Sam felt like he was seeing another side of her. She looked like a girl, Dean would say that it was stupid of him to let his guard down but…he felt bad for her.

Sam knew how truly bad that this hurt, and as he watched the steady, but silent, stream of tears fall he wondered about her. How did she get into this business? What happened to her to make her so cold and calculating? He was certain that she hadn't always been this way.

"I've almost…" Sam pulled it out, and tossed it away flesh and blood and little bits clinging to it. "You okay?"

She sat up slowly, and wiped the tears away in one fluid motion. "I'll live."

"Try not to move." He warned her taking off his jacket and shirt, to create a makeshift bandage, he was left standing in a thin white t-shirt and Bela admired him silently.

"Quite nice." Bela told him, smiling as the muscles rippled as he ripped the shirt into the correct size to wrap her wound.

"Huh?"

"I can't believe I was thinking poker, there are so many better ways that we could pass the time." Bela smirked, and Sam finally got it.

Sam couldn't believe what she was suggesting. She was shot, and wanted to have sex? It was extra ordinary that she and Dean didn't get along better, they certainly seemed to think on the same wavelength.

"You're going to have to take off your t-shirt." Sam said feeling a unusual wave of shyness at the simple, and necessary request.

"Well, if we're doing _that _I think a few more layers are going to have to go." Bela smirked, working very hard to try and ignore the fact that it was going to kill to take this shirt off.

"No-I-uh-" Sam stuttered as she slipped off her shirt, much more gracefully than he imagined a person could after being shot. Bela was left sitting in a black lace bra that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. "Just to dress the wound." He said quickly, awkwardly.

Bela smiled, she'd known what he'd meant. It was rather interesting to see how nervous he would, he didn't strike her as a shy one, it was cute. Sam tied the fabric tightly, and expertly, she was impressed, he clearly had done this more than this one time.

"You're quite forgiving." Bela noted.

"What?" Sam had a feeling that he had fallen behind again in the repertoire--that nearly, almost sounded like an apology of sorts.

"I accuse you of killing your girlfriend, and you put all this effort into keeping me alive--I must say I am intrigued by you Sam."

"Well, maybe you weren't wrong." Sam hadn't been back there to think about that in a long time, and he knew that no matter how much he would like to, he'd never be able to absolve himself of the guilt of Jess' death. After talking to the demon, he knew it was impossible to do that.

Bela was silent, it was a new concept to her somewhat, someone trusting her with this kind of thing. She wondered if Sam Winchester realized he was too nice for this line of work, she wondered if he realized that it just might get him killed one day.

"Excuse me?" Bela questioned, her curiosity piqued.

Sam began to explain and handed her his jacket to stay warm. It wasn't exactly a tropical paradise in the dump they were stuck in.

"I had dreams--visions--that she was going to die for months. I ignored it, left for a weekend with Dean to go on a hunt, came back…she was pinned to the ceiling and burst into flames. I killed her." Sam left out the part where he was informed by the YED that it was because she was in the way of getting to him, even if he trusted Bela, their was just some things he couldn't tell her about.

"I…I'm sorry." Bela was thrown by the degree to which he was trusting her. No one had ever trusted her like that, she didn't know what it was but their was something about Sam that seemed to draw her in. He wasn't like other hunters, she didn't even think he was meant for this life, he was to good for it. "Sam, that's not murder though."

"I'm well on my way." He murmured thinking of Dean and his deal.

"I'm sorry?" She hadn't quite caught that.

"Nothing." He said quickly.

"You wonder what I did? Don't you?" Bela hadn't said this aloud in years, she had sworn to herself that she'd never talk about it again and yet she couldn't help but to trust Sam, to want to tell him.

"You don't have to tell me, we all have our secrets." Sam couldn't help but to feel this strange connection to Bela.

"We do, do we?"

Her face was so close, Sam's lips grazed hers and he felt Bela kiss him back and then…he felt her pull back.

She'd fainted and Sam caught her just before her head connected with the ground.

Sam looked her over…

"Damn it!" Sam swore angrily.

This wasn't good.

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_Now, normally I would not have the time to write this fic with all the others that i have going, but as my cat has chewed through my laptop cord, and left me with no way at the time to get to my other fics to work on them i had to start on something new to tide myself over so i turned to a request, and this one seemed like the most challenging. I'd love to know what you thought of my portayal of Bela and my first fic with no Dean (thus far, as one of the requirements of the challenge). If it you know, sucked, please tell! If not it would still be nice if you reviewed, but no pressure just hoped you liked it enough to come back soon and read part two._

Chailyn


	2. Chapter 2

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**_Au Contraire _**

**_Part 2_**

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_So, I must say that to date this has probably been one of the most challaenging stories that I've ever attempted, so thank you to everyone for all the kind reviews! I've done my best to try and top part one, and I've got it planned out a bit more...this story is going to be in 5 parts. I hope you'll review and keep the criticism going, may favorite comments have been from all of you who said that you couldn't stand the idea of a Sam-Bela pairing and like the story, so lets see if I can keep it up.

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_Dean had been trying to break into the damn mansion for over eight hours and, it seemed to be freaking impossible to break into this place. It was guarded by more enchantments and ancient runes than Dean had ever seen before, and it didn't help the situation that Sam was much better at the Latin stuff than he was. He'd come to the conclusion that it would, in fact, be easier to break into the national treasury than it would to get to his brother and Bela. He wasn't any more reassured by the fact that his brother wasn't alone as the knowledge that he was with Bela was almost as scary as the fact that his brother was trapped in that place. He was scared to death that Sam might be hurt and if that conniving bitch did something to hurt his brother again…this time he _would _shoot her.

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As soon as Bela regained consciousness, she and Sam were back at it again.

"Every time…you know, all the rumors about how great your brother is…clearly a perfect example of how the legend is greater than the man."

Sam was doing his best to try and be nice, as he was sure she was in a great deal of pain between the bullet hole in her shoulder and the tennis ball sized bump on her head that he was certain must have caused her to faint. She clearly didn't seem to appreciate the fact that he had, and still was, trying very hard to keep her ass alive, which she still hadn't been able to muster up a simple thank you for. She just made it so damn hard to _not _want to shoot her. Even when he felt like he was falling in love with her.

"Would it kill you to say something nice?" Sam questioned her. He didn't get it; minutes ago it was like she had been a different Bela, softer and genuine. Now, it was like none of that ever happened with her, she hadn't even acknowledged the impromptu kiss.

"The view's not bad." She smirked in his direction; if there was one thing she could say for the Winchesters…no matter what was happening with them, they always looked good.

It took Sam a minute to figure out what she was referring to and then it hit him. Sam sighed, really she and Dean…two of a kind--except, though Dean did have his moments, wasn't quite the scheming, calculating bitch that Bela had proven herself to be on quite a few occasions.

"Can we make an agreement?" Sam asked her, ignoring the comment. He swore, only she had his brother could both think of sex at an inopportune moment such as this was…though he couldn't help but to admit his mind was tempted to wander down the path of that possibility. Sam was about to continue when she interrupted.

"And the agreement would be…what?"

Sam looked at her; clearly they seemed to be back at the not trusting of each other one again. He really didn't get her, it was like she had two personalities and he would love to know what had made her so un-trusting.

"Since I am _trying _to keep you alive, could you at least be honest with me?"

"You mean trust you."

"Would it kill you?"

"Maybe. Probably." She told him, dead serious now. He knew the risks of this business just as well as she could, there was no good will between hunters. "Being a hunter…you should know that. In this line of work, trust is a luxury that we don't get. Trust can get you killed."

Her words ran bone chillingly true to him as he flashed back to Cold Oak. Sam forced himself to ignore the string of thoughts that ran through his head like a broken record tape every time he thought back to that day.

"You know I'm right, don't you?" Bela caught the flash of recognition in his eyes and found herself curiosity piqued, and yearning to know more about it, more about Sam. There was certainly something about him that was unlike other hunters and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She could also see that he wasn't going to budge and start spilling the deep, dark, dirty Winchester past to her.

"What made you so bitter, Bela? How can you possibly know this much about the world that we know about, what's _really _out there, and not care enough to do something about it, to try and make a difference, and do something good with it."

"Maybe because I do live in this world." Bela was on the defensive, someone like Sam could never understand the way she felt about it. He was a hunter, and he actually still was naive to believe that there was still some goodness left in it, a person like that could never get the choices she'd made.

"Fine. But why are you so against some of us that _do _care enough to hunt down what's out there?"

"Care?" Bela deadpanned. "Sam. Hunters don't do the job because they care. No one in this business gives a damn about anything but vengeance-you just might be the exception. You can't possibly sit there and tell me that your family got into it for any reason aside from revenge. No one gets into it to save people, they do it for revenge. The obsession consumes people before they ever find what they're hunting for. It's a waste of a way to live a life, and at least I can be honest about it."

"That's not true." Sam denied, feeling as if she'd revealed a whole lot more about herself in that statement than she intended to. He just wasn't sure what. Bela was like a puzzle where the pieces hadn't even been discovered, and you had no idea what the end product was supposed to look like.

"It isn't?" Bela pressed. "Then why are you here? A demon killed your mother, your girlfriend, your father...what other motivation do you have? You want revenge."

"Dean and I got our revenge a long time ago and we haven't stopped. We hunt what's evil, and we save innocent lives...we give someone else a chance for a normal life."

"And what thanks do you get from it. You're completely miserable." Bela finished.

"What?"

"You're miserable, and Dean's no better. It's impossible to be happy as a hunter. That life...doesn't lead itself to a happy ending. Ever."

"Pretty knowledgeable for someone who's not a hunter." Sam noted. "Pretty miserable too."

"Hunters are never happy." She argued back. "It's always; 'the next hunt', 'the next demon', its pathetic...most hunters die still thinking about revenge."

"And being a thief is that much more fulfilling?"

"A thief?" Bela objected.

"Isn't that what you are?" Sam asked, "Then what are you?"

"A thief _and _a liar_." _Bela grinned_, "_A really good, _rich_, thief and liar, actually. But then again so are most hunters...just not as good as I am."

"You have so many faces...I don't get you Bela. One second you're this conniving bitch and then suddenly you switch and become this person...I know that there's some good in you I'm just straining really hard to find it. You'll sleep with me, but you won't tell me how you got into this business. You'll tell me that you think I'm better than most hunters and then you'll bash what I do altogether so, please, be honest with me here...one thing. One true thing about yourself."

"You want true?" Bela circled around him, so close he could feel her touch upon his arm, her whisper in his ear, the breath tickled his skin, and he thought about how easy it would be to just let it be sex, but somehow he couldn't. He didn't want it to be just sex, he was too intrigued by her to just let it be sex. "Let's make a deal. I tell you something...true. And we have sex."

Sam nodded his head intently, wondering what it was about her that made him feel like he was sixteen and terrified of the power she held over him.

Inches away, she whispered in his ear. "I killed my entire family."

Sam swung his head around so abruptly to look at her, he nearly fell over. He'd wanted the truth but...was this too much truth? Could she really be a cold blooded murdered or...did she have motivation behind it. Maybe she had no choice, even as he thought it he knew it was doubtful, like Dean told him...You always have a choice.

"Why?" Sam asked her.

"I thought we agreed on one thing?" Bela asked with a twisted smile, not quite a smile, but close enough; a sad smile Sam would've described it.

"Bela, please?"

"Well, why not, lets get the whole ugly story out in the open. Not like it's that big of a secret. My parents were hunters and I killed them, and then I killed my sister too."

Sam looked at her in shock. Hunters? He never actually thought she had seen this part of the life, how do you go from hunting to...what she was.

"Mmmm...Why right? How could someone—even someone as much as a conniving bitch as I am do something so unforgivingly evil? I hated the life and I hated them for dragging me and my sister into it. They came back one night after a hunt, I knew they weren't like themselves...they were possessed. They were going to kill us so...I shot them, a bullet to the heart."

"I'm sorry." Sam told her, moving closer to comfort her, he could see that she was shaking after having told the story. It was like she had shed that tough, hard jaded exterior again. "Bela, I'm so sorry, but you didn't have another choice. What could you have done?"

"I should have exorcised them, but I made the choice a long time ago...to take the easy way out. I shot them and it felt good. I was free, I murdered my parents and I was happy."

Sam couldn't imagine how it must have felt, killing your parents. When you had no choice, he didn't understand why she tortured herself and pretended that she was happy by the choice...she was so twisted, he wondered if she'd ever just allowed herself to feel it, to actually hurt over the fact that they were gone. Somehow, he doubted it. He was sure that she had been too busy building her defenses, making herself untouchable, making herself feel better by pretending it made her happy.

"And then I did something that you, you Sam could never understand."

"Why can't I?"

"Because, I've seen you and I've heard the stories about you and your brother...you'd die for him, wouldn't you? And I heard the anger in Dean's voice, saw the look in his eye when I told Gordon where you two were...he'd die for you and he'd hurt anyone who attempted to come near you...you'd die for each other."

Sam thought about it for a moment and it stung like tossing salt in an open wound. He wished to god that it wasn't true, it was, and his brother was going to die for him, maybe that devotion...wasn't entirely a good thing. He didn't want to end up alone, embittered, and vindictive...like Bela had become.

"I know how that obsession for revenge can consume a person. I watched it happen to my little sister. She was eighteen—she had only been thirteen when our parents died—and then she went after a vampire clan after hearing some stupid rumor, some theory on the demon she was after...they turned her into a vampire. When I found out I hunted her, and I killed her. I chopped my sister's head off."

"I'm sorry." Sam didn't know what else to say, what could he possibly say to that. If he had lived her life...he'd hate hunting too.

"Hey, we all make our choices." Bela said. "You chose your family and I chose my freedom."

Sam was about to say something and then two things happened consecutively. Dean busted into the place and Bela stumbled into his arms after just missing getting knocked over by a few pounds of drywall that Dena sent crashing down.

"Sammy!" Dean looked worried about his brother. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Sam took a hold of Bela supporting her just in case she fainted again, she had lost a lot of blood and they needed to get her to the hospital. "We need to get her to the hospital."

"Your brother would have had self-gratuitous sex with me." Bela whispered in his ear, as they exited the currently calm mansion.

As soon as Dean came in and saw that his brother was okay, he had struggled to tear his gaze from Bela's chest, still only covered by the revealing lace bra, and Sam's jacket over her shoulders for warmth.

Bela...no shirt...black lace bra...Sam's jacket..._Sam's jacket? _No, Dean thought, could they have...nah...no way. Sam never would have had sex just because...god, she was looking good...Dean suddenly wished he could have traded places with his brother for a few hours to take her up on that former offer of angry sex...

"Eyes back in the sockets, yeah Dean?" Bela said with a smirk.

Yes, Dean definitely would have jumped for the self-gratuitous sex. Perhaps that was what had lit her unwavering fancy in Sam...She still couldn't help but to want to tear off his clothes and go for a round...or two. She had the most terrible suspicion that he would be quite good in bed.

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_For anyone who is interested in continuing onto Part 3, which will be posted soon, just have a few bugs to work out...the rating will be going up to cover come cough certian literay cough elements double cough. Sorry if that inconveinces anyone but yes, it will be getting fairly raunchy, however if you can watch the show...keep reading. Remeber to review...its like chocloate...but better. And still taking suggestions for fics, please hunor me i have lots of time to fill til my computer and its cord can be fixed. any challenge...please...boredom makes my mind turn dirty...lol. thnks for reading!_


	3. Chapter 3

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**Au Contraire **

**Part 3

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**This here is the product of many things...a late night, some illegal drinking activities, and a mind much too dirty for its own good. Fiona...evil grin from one dirty mind to another hun, this was done especially for you so break out the popcorn and coke. Reviews are like chocolate and dirty minds like to be fed lol. But.. Review, don't review, whatever...hope you all enjoy. Now I must go and crash from a severe caffeine high that kept be up long enough to finsh this without drooling or trying to figure out why I couldn't spell sex...its still to be determined lol.

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In complete Winchester fashion, Sam had told Dean everything that had happened in the mansion without actually telling him about anything that had happened in the mansion. It wasn't exactly a lie as Sam still was trying to sort out in his mind what had happened and, besides, the lie was for Dean's sake.

They hadn't left town yet, as neither one of them had quite yet found a case with anything even slightly regarding the supernatural and a myriad of calls hadn't gotten them any closer to finding a case. Usually they would have just left and drove until they hit something, but Dean was intrigued with the café that lay directly across the street from their motel. He liked the food, and he liked the atmosphere even better. Dean was determined to get some waitress or another and Sam for once, thanked god for his brother's determination to—as it clearly seemed, to Sam at least—sleep with a waitress from every damn town they went through. The good part of this was that okay, he was still in the same town as Bela and really wanted to try and talk to her as he hadn't in the slightest figured out what had happened between them and with Dean showing up like he had...Sam really needed to clarify some things, and he'd preferably like to do it before Bela disappeared and tried to kill them again or something equally annoying to piss Dean off.

When Dean closed his hand in the hood of the Impala, in a moment of shock when the waitress he'd been showing his baby to, insulted her—and he quoted her words exactly to Sam—"Its okay, for an old car." Dean managed to explain her terrible insult through a string of curses, and at first Sam wasn't sure what was hurt more, his pride, his hand, or from the way Dean was talking, the impala's feelings.

"She's beautiful, absolutely perfect..." Sam was pretty sure that he was no longer referring to the waitress.

"Dean!" Sam was trying to get his brother to stand still for one minute so that he could check his hand. "Dean! Will you shut up for one minute so I can see if your hand is broken?"

Dean stopped his banter over his baby and switched back to curses as Sam pulled and poked and prodded his hand and wrist.

"OW!" He howled, "What are you doing? That hurts."

"Dean, I barely touched it." Suddenly, Sam had an idea. Two birds with one stone, he thought. "Dean, that's definitely broken, you should see a doctor."

"Just wrap it." Dean told him, "And try not to kill me in the process."

"Dean," Sam tried to think fast for an excuse, he could see his opportunity to catch up with Bela quickly slipping away, and he wanted to figure out what happened before she turned around again and he lost his chance to figure her out. "You should really get this checked out, you probably need a cast, you wouldn't want to ruin your right hand...isn't it your shooting hand?"

"Fine." Dean acquiesced, surprised that Sam was pushing so hard for a hospital. Sam was usually all about trying to stay under the radar. "Maybe I can pick up a nurse while we're there." Dean smirked.

"Uh...I can drive." Sam offered, "Since your hand...and all."

"Uh...no." Dean shot back. "If I let you drive I'm going to need a hospital, you just haven't learned yet how to give me baby the care and attention she deserves."

Sam rolled his eyes; if anything happened to that car...he was worried about how well Dean would take it. He just hoped that there would be a hospital nearby; because he was pretty sure it would start with a heart attack—after all, that panic attack had shown how completely over attached Dean was to his car. Who has a panic attack when they lose their car?

* * *

As soon as Dean was preoccupied with his nurse, Sam took the opportunity to disappear with the excuse that he was going to go and look for a bathroom.

"Yeah...you do that Sammy." Dean said, not tearing his gaze away from his nurse. Dean really liked nurses; he was suddenly remembering this as she took his blood pressure and started to ask him questions.

Sam didn't get very far, actually he wasn't pass the second exam room when he felt a hand grab his arm and tug him into the vacant room. He was thrown off for a moment then looked up and saw Bela.

"Bela...What...?" Sam was cut off as she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pressed her mouth up against his. Sam realized that the logical thing at that moment in time probably would have been to stop but...he couldn't. He kissed back, parting his lips as her tongue entered his mouth and felt like he had completely lost all control of what he was doing.

When they pulled back a moment later, and Sam had regained enough of his mental functions to think, he managed to get out, a few words.

"Dean's right next door."

"Ooo..." Bela grinned wickedly, "That's kind of dirty."

Sam blushed, damn it! He thought, she always seemed to make him do that. He never should have kissed her...no matter how good of a kiss it was. And no matter how much more he wanted to do to her. As he was trying to convince himself why he shouldn't be doing this, a handful of scenarios ran trough his mind.

"Well, Sam, I'm embarrassed, best kiss of my life and you're thinking of your brother..."

"No, I—"

Bela cut him off, "Right. Makes you nervous being so close to big brother?" Bela laughed, and grabbed him a look of determination and lust flashing through her eyes. "Let's go."

Bela pulled him out of the room and onto the elevator and Sam was curious for a moment; she didn't really plan to...

"Don't worry Sam, we're not going to drop down and go for it on an elevator floor. Much too college, I have something way more exciting. Although..." Bela grinned, "What could a kiss hurt?"

Sam wasn't fighting it anymore, in all honesty he had lost all willpower from the moment that she delivered the first crushing kiss to his lips. Bela's hands moved downwards and Sam jumped backwards as he felt her undo his pants.

"Bela!"

There was a ding as the elevator stopped and the doors opened. Sam quickly pulled a smirking Bela to her feet.

Two old women, one with blue hair, the other with bright orange-red hair, stepped onto the elevator and while the red haired woman walked right past, the other with long bluish hair stopped and glanced from Sam to Bela knowingly and he could feel himself beginning to blush. She eyed them up with a knowing smile and Sam was reminded, somewhat uncomfortably, of dear old Gertie.

"What were you thinking?" He hissed in her ear. His voice was just about inaudible, barely above a whisper and the two old ladies struggled to overhear.

"Lighten up, Sammy." Bela whispered back just as quietly, grinning as a thought formed. "You gotta have fun sometimes, like this."

Bela reached up and pulled Sam's mouth down to hers kissing him as fiercely, if not more so than she had just minutes ago downstairs.

Sam swore that she had to be trying to kill him. Kisses like that—heated, passionate, more personal than sex kisses—definitely came with a price.

Bela pulled away and turned her glance to the ladies who was staring at them wide-eyed and shell shocked.

"Sorry ladies," Bela giggled, and Sam was given the impression of a sorority girl with one two many beers, which just about knocked him over because she didn't seem like the giggling type. "My husband's just a bit nervous...prostate exam," she whispered the last part conspiratorially and the ladies giggled along with her, the three of them reminiscent of gossiping school girls.

"No. No." Sam said, "I'm not—She's not..."

The ladies looked at him knowingly and disbelievingly and Sam blushed even harder if it was even possible, and he gave up.

"Bela." Sam whispered feeling his face turning beet-red with their eyes on him. "I'm going to kill you!"

'Prostate exam?' Sam could feel the heat radiating from his reddening face as he thought about it.

"No, you're not." She retorted as the elevator pinged to a stop once again. This time they got off.

"Good luck handsome." The blue haired lady called after them with a smile and a flirtatious wink.

Bela grinned; he got embarrassed so easily, somehow it made him seem even hotter to her...and clearly, to old women also.

Bela pulled him along stopping suddenly at a door and pushing him in ahead of her. "You're going to have sex with me. Really good, really hot, sex. And I have a feeling that you won't disappoint, Sam. Now, you don't want to prove me wrong, do you?"

Sam was speechless.

"I like you Sam." Bela whispered in his ear, her light caress around his neck arousing him. She removed her hands from around his neck slipping them up his shirt and caressing his strong chest. Bela pulled off his shirt, standing back to admire how fine he was.

"Fantastic." She smiled, the words coming out soft and seductively.

Bela was taken by surprise when Sam pounced on her, removing her blouse, and bra, trailing kisses down her neck, and breasts.

Bela moaned and moved her hands down to slip off Sam's pants.

When Sam turned Bela around to remove the little, and maddeningly short skirt she was wearing he suddenly got a better view of the room they were in.

"Bela?" He asked, slowing down a bit as concern over their surrounding set in. "Tell me that we are not in a surgery room."

"Okay." Bela said, "We're not in a surgery room."

"Bela! Do you realize how completely illegal this is? We could get arrested!"

"Oh, Sam don't be such a drama queen. The fun is in worrying that we might get caught. Besides, I checked the schedule, its not even being used, yeah, okay? Now, where were we...right." Bela grinned, reaching down and cupping Sam's naked member.

Sam groaned at her touch and any and all thought of resistance flew out of the window. Before she pressed her mouth up against his, one though flitted through Sam's mind; if Dean ever found out about this...he'd probably kill him.

Bela's hands grazed over his chest and reached up wrapping them around his neck her touch re-hot to his naked skin. Sam reached for her hips and lifted her up. He pinned her against the wall, the kiss growing deeper and hungrier. Bela wrapped her legs around his waist and the touch of her foot just grazing his ass was terribly hot to him.

Bela pulled away suddenly and spoke, her words coming in a rush of breathlessness.

"We...I think...this might work better...on the floor.."

Sam agreed silently, and laid her on the floor positioning carefully to make sure she was comfortable. The kisses moved from her lips and he nibbled at her ear. She moaned pleasurably and Sam realized that must be one of her particular spots. Then he began to trail kisses down stopping at the hollow at the nape of her neck and continuing lower, his hands tracing a pattern down her side and resting just above her black and red lace underwear. He moved his hands across and she giggled, it was a real giggle though this time, not like the fake one in the elevator.

Sam looked at her questionably.

"I'm quite ticklish...whatever are you waiting for?"

Sam grinned and slowly slipped of the panties, amused by her forthcoming. Ticklish...he'd never had her pegged for it.

"Sam! If you don't do this faster I'm going to throw you on you back and _fuck_ you."

Sam tossed them to the side and kissed up the length of her thighs stopping at her opening.

Bela was dying a little bit, Sam was excellent and did not disappoint. He had somehow managed to find all her spots, his tongue did things that she'd never actually imagined a tongue could do and took it so slowly that she was certain she was going to die from pleasure before they actually shagged.

When he finally entered her, she let out a moan that went straight through Sam and he wondered how it was that she could be so sexual and feminine and then again, be Bela?

The thought disappeared quickly as she pulled him close to him, her nails digging into his back as they thrusted against one another. It was animalistic and pure fulfilling of need and it was what both needed.

With Bela calling out his name and Sam moaning in ecstasy it was a wonder that no one discovered them. They both came at the same time, and their bodies were soaked in sheen of sweat. They fell together in a mass of tangled limbs after their orgasms had subsided.

Bela was the first to speak.

"That was fantastic." She breathed. "We should do this again. Soon."

"Again?" Sam questioned.

Before she replied his phone rang.

Bela grinned as he moved to pick it up.

"Dean." Sam stood their naked as he spoke and Bela thought it was one of the more wonderful perks of the job. If she ran into the Winchesters more often...she certainly wouldn't complain. He really had a lovely butt...as did his brother. It just wasn't right for two men that were related to look that beautiful.

Sam listened to his brother for a moment, replying with the occasional yeah and uh huh, his voice having no indication that he was within touching distance of an extremely gorgeous, naked woman.

"Yeah...I'm coming."

"And here I was thinking you already did..." Bela said just above a whisper, just enough above a whisper to worry Sam that Dean may have overheard.

Sam shushed her, Dean wasn't gonna be privy to this anytime in the near future if he could help it. He didn't know if his brother would recover from it.

"Well, we got a job." Dean said over the phone. "They got my wrist all wrapped and I've got a hot date with nurse Becky tonight, so I'm going to need you to make yourself scarce tonight, and we'll leave in the morning."

"Right. Okay. Make myself scarce." Sam's glance fell on Bela as he spoke.

"Hurry your ass back down here, what are you trying to do? Bang a nurse?"

"Yeah. No." Sam was slightly distracted by Bela was covering up her lovely assets. "Be right down."

Sam closed his phone and turned to look at Bela.

"Make yourself scarce, yeah?" Bela asked. "I'm staying at The Grand...room 708...drop by we can...what was your brother's word for it...? Bang?" Bela raised an eyebrow questionably.

Sam blushed, "The Grand, huh?"

"My room has a balcony...a hot tub...come by, don't...but you know where I'll be." Bela was fully dressed now and heading for the door. "By the way, you might want to get dressed...there's a scheduled operation starting in three minutes."

Sam dressed in lightning speed. He was thinking that maybe he wasn't going to mind making himself scarce this time.

* * *

"Dude? Where the hell were you?" Dean asked as they drove back to the motel, Dean's wrist wrapped in a fresh cast. "you were gone for like half an hour and as much of a girl as you are...you've never taken that long."

"Um...I got caught up. An old lady on the elevator stopped me to talk." Sam figured Dean would like that, an excuse Dean likes is usually the one that works.

"Didn't you learn your lesson after Gertie?"

"No." Sam grinned. "Guess not."

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

_**

* * *

**_

Au Contraire

_**-4-**_

* * *

_Author's Note: This has truly been the never-ending chapter. Its been written and re-written a million times, and I was positive I'd never actually be able to accomplish finishing the damn thing, especially once I lost the first draft. But its finally done, and finished, and I hope you enjoy it. I'd also like to dedicate it to Fi, because some chats with her brilliance finally inspired me to just finish this thing. So thanks fi!! I never would have finished this thing without an awesome writer such as yourself to vent to._

* * *

**Three Months Later**

"C'mon dude, this sucks. Job, friggin' middle of nowhere..." Dean couldn't believe it, all the demon shit going down in the world and they had to take a hunt in some backwoods town in the Midwest. Why the hell didn't these things ever happen in the city?

"The job's at a strip club." Sam said, if anything could motivate his brother to get to the job, was the job being a strip club.

Dean turned to look at his brother. He had to be dreaming. Never in a million years would the words 'strip club' and 'job' come out of goody two shoes Sammy's mouth unless it was chastise him for being in one while he was supposed to be working a job. That thought...it was just too good to be true.

"The job is at a strip club." Sam repeated slowly, amused by the look on his brother's face--like Christmas had come early, and Santa was a Hooters girl.

"Strip club?" Dean repeated his brother's words. "Sammy, so help me this better not be a cruel joke."

"Dean. People are disappearing from this place like crazy. So yeah, our next job is at a strip club."

"Yeah!" Dean whooped enthusiastically and Sam grinned, Dean was like a child on Christmas day. He hadn't seen his brother so happy since that boxing match they took in last year in New York where the ring girl lost her top.

Dean turned up the radio, and Sam groaned as his ears were accosted with Motorhead at a volume he wasn't sure it was healthy to listen to music at.

He couldn't help but to think that he just might regret taking this job. Especially when he was going to have to do all the research while Dean charmed every girl in the place.

It was going to be a long job. At least it would if Dean had anything to do with it.

**0000000000**

"I'm gonna go...research." Dean told his brother, not taking his glance away from the stage.

""I'm sure." Sam sighed, yep, he was going to regret taking this job. "I'll go talk to the bartender."

Sam couldn't blame his brother, and it wasn't like he was going to give him shit for wanting to have some fun. Dean had three months left...he deserved it.

Sam waited until the area by the bar emptied out fairly well and then he zeroed in on her. If anyone would know what was going on in a strip club, it was the bartender.

"Hey," she smiled brightly, "What can I get for you?"

"Actually, I was hoping to talk to you." Sam said.

"Strippers are that way." She pointed, "I just serve the drinks."

"Oh, no." Sam blushed, horrified. Damn, he hated these places. He pulled out his FBI identification. "Special Agent Sam Johnson. I was hoping to ask you some questions about the disappearances around here."

"_Time for you to __disappear__ dude.__"__ Dean told his brother._

_Not a problem, Sam thought quietly, __"__Keys?__"__ He asked his brother._

_Dean looked down at the keys, to his brother, and back. He handed them over __begrudgingly__. __"__Take care of her.__"__ He warned._

"_Relax Dean...She__'__ll be back in one piece.__"__ Sam grinned._

"_Where the hell are you going?__"__ Dean asked, ever since they left the hospital Sam had been acting weird._

"_Library.__"__ Sam lied, __"__Gonna do some research.__"__ He kind of was, he reasoned, it wasn't a _total _lie. Just not researching demons...but Bela. He was determined to figure out this thing between them before she reverted back to going out of her way to make their lives difficult._

"_Dude, you are so boring. Do you realize how many pretty girls are just waiting...I mean, c__'__mon, this is a college town. You could be banging a __sorority__ girl.__"_

"_I__'__l pass.__"__ Sam left, if only Dean knew what he was doing instead, he might prefer that he was at the library._

The bartender blushed, equally embarrassed at her faux pas, "I'm so sorry I just..."

"Not a problem." Sam said, "Now, you wouldn't mind my asking you a few questions?"

"No. Of course not." She replied, handing him a beer. "On the house." She told him.

Sam took it with a smile, "Thanks."

"Its good to see that the FBI is stepping back in. The disappearances have a lot of us really creeped out. Over the last year, our patronage has just dropped like crazy...men just disappearing and some of the girls are with them."

"Some of the girls who work here?" Sam questioned.

"Well, yeah, to tell you the truth, I think the owner tries to cover up the missing girls. Otherwise, they get scared and don't want to work here. But whoever it is, they're definitely targeting the men. Everyone thinks that maybe some guys wife cracked or something. This one guy, he was a regular, really nice guy...he was one of the ones whose bodies were found. It was horrible...he was mutilated."

"Mutilated?" Sam questioned, that hadn't come up in police reports either. "Mutilated how?"

"Well, sexually." She replied, "_It _was cut right off."

"Right..." Sam said, "Thank you..."

"Sarah Michelle." She supplied.

"Thank you, Sarah Michelle."

"Not at all, I just want it to stop happening."

_Even though he knew that this was going to have to stop happening like this, Sam __couldn't __help himself. Dean was going to kill him if he ever found out but...there was no way he could leave without seeing her one last time. And it wasn__'__t just about the sex...the amazing sex...she was drawing him in and it was stupid of him he knew, but he was falling for her._

"_Sam.__"__ Bela stepped into the main room of her suite, a short and seductive red dress that left just enough to the __imagination__ to drive him nuts and that told Sam she knew damn well that he was going to be coming. __"__So...decided to make yourself scarce?__"__ Bela smiled, god, he looked good, he looked really good. It had to be something in their genes because even in plaid and jeans she couldn__'__t help the urge to want to just jump him._

"_Yeah.__"__ Sam smiled shyly, but damn it, she just brought it out in him. __"__You know, you__'__re door isn__'__t locked. Anyone could just walk in.__"_

"_Mmmm...but I wasn__'__t waiting for anyone. I was waiting for you.__"__ Bela said, __"__Looks like it all worked out.__"_

_Sam was speechless, __"__I...yeah.__"__ He __finished__ lamely._

"_You know,__"__ Bela started, walking over to Sam and stopping in front of him, __"__I__'__m sorry, would you mind...__"__ she gestured to the zipper on her dress._

_Sam unzipped it for her, a little surprised, but hey, nothing should surprise him with Bela anymore._

"_Right. Well, I think we should just skip over all this __awkwardness__.__"__ Bela said, letting the dress fall to the ground and stepping out of it gracefully. She turned around and unbuttoned Sam__'__s top as she spoke. __"__The way I figure it, we have a few hours...lets make the most of them.__"__ She tossed Sam__'__s shirt to the floor and pulled him into her bedroom. __"__Any objections?__"_

_Sam stared at her, the one thought going through his mind that she__'__d changed into a different bra and panties since he__'__d seen her at the hospital_

"_Sam?__"_

_Sam nodded his head, __"__Okay.__"__ God, this was wrong. And yet so right...he__'__d talk to her after__, __he was sure she'd be quite compliant once…_

"_Sam?" She repeated, giving him an odd look when he didn't move._

"_C-coming." Sam managed, god forget talking he couldn't even get his brain to work around Bela._

**0000000000**

Naturally, Dean had somehow gotten lost in everything and so Sam was a bit lost wandering about aimlessly trying to find his brother was being the pain in the ass he was, wasn't answering his phone.

Sam grabbed his phone and dialed his brother once more. "Damn it Dean." He muttered, "Answer your phone."

**0000000000**

"Aren't these girls just fantastic?" Dean said, his hazel eyes sparkling with complete happiness.

Sam rolled his eyes. This _so _had nothing to do with the case. Using a considerable amount of Dean Winchester charmwith the female security guard--because most guys would never go for his brothers shtick--and mumbling to Sam something about important research for the integrity of the job, they were now in the VIP room, and Dean was doing what he did best in such a place--making friends.

Currently his 'friend' was dancing in front of him and if this went on much longer, Sam was worried his brother might start to go blind, as Dean's eyes didn't seem to be blinking at the pace that a normal person's eyes should; he was pretty positive that wasn't healthy. His brother was enjoying this way to much.

Suddenly, she stopped dancing in front of Dean, taking a step back. Dean frowned, why had she stopped? She shouldn't of stopped. He was having fun. He didn't want her to stop.

"Hi there cutie," Dean's friend said to Sam. "Why don't you just look as lonely as a single pea in a pod."

"Um...no." Sam said uncomfortably. "I'm good. Really."

"Why we can't have you being such a lonely boy. It wouldn't be right to let your friend have all the fun."

"No," Sam said, "Really, its all right, he can have all the fun he wants. Really, please, I'm good."

This was just too good, Dean had to fight the urge to burst into laughter. Sammy...trying to deny a stripper. Oh, it was just too good, where the hell was a video camera when he needed one.

"I'm gonna go and get a special someone for you, honey." she told him with a smile. "You are just too cute to be sitting here all lonely-like. You'll like her hon, I promise. _Everyone_ likes Candy."

Dean grinned as she walked away, even if he wasn't getting all this attention from Sandy? Mary? Eh, he didn't remember her name, but the embarrassment of Sammy made it all worth it. He was blushing like a kid. He really had to invest in a camera for such moments as these. Dean looked at his brother with a shit-eating grin. "Sounds tasty."

"Shut up." Sam shot back, giving an uncomfortable glance around the place.

Dean chuckled, oh, it was just, it was too good. As a matter of fact, the only thing that could make this day better was if this whatever it was that they had to hunt took itself out, and if he had a beer...luckily for him, the second one was at least manageable.

**0000000000**

Dean fell into a coughing fit, choking on his beer when blonde what's-her-name and Candy walked in. He'd been quite absorbed in his beer and enjoying Sam's obvious discomfort when his brother's hand went flying up knocking the neck of his beer into his teeth quite painfully. He reached over to smack his brother across the back of the head and saw exactly what his brother had seen. Those legs. He knew those legs. The sound of laughter—evil laughter, in his opinion drew his glance up to her face.

_Bela_.

Dean couldn't believe it. It was a nightmare. No, it was worse than a nightmare.

Bela stealing the foot was a nightmare.

Bela stealing his _winning _lotto tickets was a nightmare.

This was just sheer cruelty. Out of all the hunts she could ruin...it would be this one. He didn't even have to hear her open her mouth to know that the joy of strip clubs would eternally be ruined for him by this memory of Bela tarnishing the happiness that strips clubs were for him.

She was heartless.

"Son of a--" Dean's objection was acutely cut off as his brother's hand smacked him across the back of the head, and looked at him pointedly.

"Shut it." He hissed warningly. He wasn't sure if it was just Dean's mind slipping away in the degradation and immense amounts of cheap bear, or his dislike of Bela but...it clearly hadn't occurred to his brother that if he blew Bela's cover he was going to blow their's too and probably get all three of them killed.

"Is everything okay?" Dean's stripper asked.

Dean was looking at his brother angrily, his fingers itching to get Sam back for smacking him in the head. Friggin' Bella.

"Oh. Oh yeah, every thing's just great." Dean answered, looking over at Bela furtively.

"He's just..." Sam scrambled for something to cover up. "Stunned by how beautiful you ladies are. I just think its too much for him."

"Well, well..." Bela said trailing a finger down Sam's cheek and looking over at Dean as she spoke. She was sure as hell going to take advantage of this situation. "What a shame. We don't want your partner to over think...might give himself a nasty headache."

Sam closed his eyes. This was a nightmare. If Dean didn't figure this--_that, _he reminded himself, it was past tense now after all_--_thing out between him and Bela, or if Bela didn't completely blow it out of the water by the time this hunt was over...it would be a miracle.

Dean's stripper just giggled. "No, we don't want you to have a headache sweetheart, it would ruin all the great fun we've been having."

"No...don't want to ruin all the fun..." Dean said distractedly his attention somewhat pulled over to Bela and his brother.

Bela was dancing right on top of Sam practically and Dean was alternating between fuming that she'd ruined this hunt, and being jealous that she was dancing for his little brother because she was good. Really, _really _good actually.

"Enjoying yourself agent?" Bela asked Sam with a smirk. There was something undeniably hot about his discomfort. Maybe it was that he was kind of shy, and that wasn't exactly common among hunters. Yes, she was pretty sure it was the shyness. But then again, his shyness wasn't the only turn on, when he'd left her penthouse in a fury…the anger was just as hot.

"Um. Uh...yeah." Sam stuttered. God, she made him nervous; and it so did not help that Dean was sitting there and he could just picture his brother piecing together the last couple of run-ins with Bela. He blushed at the memory of the hospital alone...he didn't even want to imagine Dean finding out about that. Never mind that hotel room, the hot tub, the terrace—Sam blushed at the memory, still unable to believe she talked him into that—and god, he'd be better off taking his chances with a pack of hell hounds then letting Dean find out about the time in the Impala. No doubt about it, his brother would kill him. Especially if he found out that he let Bela _drive_ it.

But then again, as he remembered her unforgivable indiscretions...he'd like to kill her too, he thought.

_"So, Sam," Bela said suddenly, handing Sam a glass of gruner veltliner. "I'm curious." _

_"What?" Sam asked, careful not to let his guard down too low, he'd learned the hard way that they just couldn't do that. _

_"Considering a Faustian pact?" Bela said, looking him square in the eye, no judging in her tone, just interest._

_Sam felt his blood run cold as he heard the words leave her mouth. She had found something, she had gotten damn close to something and it scared him that she even knew that he and his brother could be involved in anything involving the crossroads demon. Because she could ruin it, everything, all his research...all his work would be gone and he'd never be able to save Dean. "What do you know Bela?"_

_"I'm not a hunter, but I know more about demonology than most hunters do. You have the _Lemegeton _in your car." _

_Another time, another situation and Sam would have corrected her on the faulty use of Latin, but he had a bigger concern--she knew about the _Goetia_. _

_"Hunters don't just carry that around, and its not like its in mass production--that book, its an original--it might even be the original from the 14th century. Its worth millions." Bela said pointedly, even she couldn't get her hands on one. she hadn't even been sure it existed until she caught a glimpse of it in the Impala._

_"How did you...?"_

_"When you were putting your pants on. I'm a thief Sam, I couldn't help myself."_

_"Did you touch it? Bela, so help me god..." Sam grabbed her by the throat, that book was his last chance at figuring out how to break the deal._

_"I didn't touch it." Bela managed, genuinely scared of a Winchester for the second time in her life. "Sam I--" _

_Bela's statement faded into the air as Sam grabbed his keys and ran out of the room._

_"Could help you." She finished, with a sigh. Or not. Bela Talbot had stopped putting her life on the line for people a long time ago, why should she do it again for another damn hunter._

"You know," She whispered, her mouth inches from his ear, "It's funny. You being so nervous about _kissing _in a room near your brother's and here I am dancing on your lap...just a foot away from him." She smiled, "It must be killing him, isn't it?" She decided to enjoy this, pushing away any and all memories from the night in her room with him. She had forgotten it, this would be fun. It wasn't like she had any kind of attachment to Sam, he was good looking and even better with his hands…it would be fun.

"Do you get off on the knowledge that your being here is driving him crazy?" Sam asked, once he remembered how to speak again, making a similar decision to forget about the night in the hotel room. To forget how close he came, and how badly he nearly screwed up.

"Maybe. But maybe I'm just so turned on to see you again. After all, last time, it seemed like you were rather upset with me." Bela moved her hands, nimbly unbuttoning a few buttons on his shirt, trailing her fingers down his chest.

Upset? He'd wanted to tear her apart. She could have ruined everything that he'd spent months putting together.

Bela's hand's crept lower, and lower…

God, he was never going to survive this hunt in one piece.

Bela glanced over at Dean, he was perfectly well occupied. Such a predictable guy...Sam on the other hand, not so much.

"C'mon," she whispered pulling on his shirt collar and bringing him to his feet.

"What are you doing?" He hissed, as she pulled him into the room she had just came from. He glanced back nervously at Dean...he was going to have a panic attack before this was over with.

"The question Sam, is what am I going to be doing?" Bela grinned and pulled him away, in the direction that she'd come from.

**0000000000**

"What's your name again?" Dean asked the new stripper, he had to admit she was great. He had been disappointed when Candy left but, he liked the new one even better. Maybe these cow towns weren't so bad after all. He slipped a twenty in her brassiere, sure that Sam wouldn't mind he borrowed his wallet.

"Sarah." she said with a wide smile, reaching back and nibbling on his ear, she had realized quickly that Dean enjoyed that. "Sarah Michelle."

"Like the Vampire Slayer?" Dean said with a grin, not yet having noticed that Sam and Bela were gone.

"Right, except…" Sarah Michelle paused, and grinned, "I slay men."

Dean laughed, "I bet you do."

**0000000000**

"What the hell are you doing here Bela?" Sam repeated his question, keeping her at arm's length, because truth was, even though she'd delved into his personal business, he knew that if he let her get close, he wasn't going to be able to push her back. Bitch and hindrance or not, he definitely had feelings for her as much as he wanted to not have feelings for her because then it would be a hell of a lot easier.

"Same as you I imagine."

"Dean and I are on a hunt." Sam said, with a raised eyebrow, "Change of conscience suddenly, decided to use your knowledge for good instead of evil?"

"Don't be such a drama queen Sam," Bela grinned, he was so cute when he got all worked up. "Evil's a bit of an overstatement, wouldn't you agree."

"No." He said bluntly, determined to stay on track. He just wanted to take care of the damn demon and get the hell out of here.

Bela sighed, "Come on Sammy, now you're starting to sound like Dean."

"It's Sam." He corrected, "Don't call me that."

"Right, that's only Dean's pet name for you."

"I'm serious Bela, why are you here. Dean and I are hunting there's a--

"Succubus." Bela interjected, "Yeah, I know its why I'm here."

"_You're _hunting?"

"No. I am being paid a nominal fee for getting rid of a hindrance."

"The succubus?"

"Yes. I just haven't figured out who it is yet."

"How much are you being paid?"

"Now, why would you care Sam? I thought getting paid to do a job was some evil thing."

"Curiosity."

"Well, you're just curious about all sorts of things aren't you." Bela said, "You know maybe it would be a smart idea for you and Dean to…" Bela's voice trailed off as she glanced into the room that they had come from.

"To what?" Sam asked, "Stay out of your business? You were the one who kept jumping right in the middle of our hunts, or have you forgotten that."

"Sam." Bela said.

"I mean, you shot me, you stole Deans lotto tickets, you stole our rabbit's foot…."

"Sam!"

Sam turned to look at her, "What?"

Bela swallowed nervously, god she hated hunts. "I know who the succubus is."

"Great." Sam said, "That's fantastic. Who? Dean and I can waste her and be out of here."

"I don't think its going to be so easy." Bela said, pulling the curtain aside ever so slightly to reveal the succubus in its partially true form. "Dean is a bit occupied."

Sam had never seen a succubus before but he knew that their were hunters who had, even though he was thrown by the sight. The wings looked like those of a bat, except they stretched for what must have been a span of nearly six feet. Two, slightly curved, horns protruded from her forehead, but the face remained the same. It was the bartender he questioned, Sarah Michelle.

"I questioned her…she's the bartender." Sam said, "I never thought she could have been the one."

"Why, because she looks like a busty grad student? That's a pretty sexist view." Bela said off handedly, stealing another glance at the demon. "Whatever you're going to do, I recommend you hurry before she steals his soul."

"She can stand in line." He muttered under his breath. "C'mon." He said, "You can't stay here it's too dangerous, I need something from the car."

"Chivalry, how charming. "Bela rolled her eyes, "How about you stay here, keep an eye on her, and make sure Dean's virtue stays intact." Bela stifled a grin at the thought, she never imagined she'd utter the words 'Dean' and 'virtue' in one sentence. "I'll get what you need from the impala."

"Like I'm going to trust you?"

Sam gave one glance back to his brother who appeared to be in a drunken stupor, half-asleep; then pulled Bela along with him.

"There's an exit back through here, right?"

"Straight ahead." Bela said, pulling out of his grasp--she didn't like being dragged--and following him as she didn't quite have a death wish either.

**0000000000**

It took Sam a minute to pick the lock on the Impala, alternatively mentally and verbally cursing his brother for not letting him have a copy of the key to the car.

"At this rate, he's not going to have a soul left." Bela said, "As tarnished as it is, it's a bit necessary."

"Shut up!" Sam growled at her angrily. "A succubus slowly drains their victims energy and then steals their soul. This one operates on the traditional principle also mutilating the body…" The trunk popped open. "…When its done."

"Lovely." Bela said, taking a look at the arsenal, it was nice. They had some quality pieces, she could fence it for a serious buck. Hunters just didn't know how to appreciate the value of the things they used, it was really lost on them.

Sam pulled out the colt, and Bela looked at him in shock. "You do know a gun isn't going to deter her ladyship, at best you'll piss her off."

"Not with this one." Sam said, slamming the trunk shut. Bela jumped back abruptly wishing he'd given her some kind of warning. She wondered if Sam and Dean realized their people skills were seriously lacking when they were in a bad mood. "It'll be dead before it realizes I've shot it."

"Oh. My god." Bela said suddenly as it hit her. She followed after Sam, as it pieced together in her mind. That gun was an antique colt revolver, circa 1800's she'd guess. She'd bet her life that some of the rumors were true, like the one that the Winchester boys had Samuel Colt's Colt. "That's the colt. "

Sam ignored her, racing back into the club before another demon tried to lay claim to him brother's soul.

If that rumor was true, Bela wondered fleetingly just how many other rumors about the Winchester boys were.

**0000000000**

Sam went back in the way he came, and ran past the curtains to where the demon and Dean were. He took a shot while she was distracted, and that was when his first mistake came in--he missed. Her attention was now also on him.

His first mistake.

"Dean!" He yelled, hoping his brother would regain consciousness in the near future and he tried to avoid the succubi's claws. "Dean!"

"Hunter…" Her--It's voice had been reduced to a hoarse hiss.

Sam tried shooting at it, but it was hopeless. The succubi was lightning fast, and impossible to hit. As he tried to avoid it's grasp he felt himself growing lightheaded, it's presence draining his energy. He knew he had to do something or they'd both be dead soon. He ducked it's grasp again, tumbling behind her and aiming at her back. It had him by the neck with her claws before the bullet reached the spot where it had been standing.

Her hands tightened until all he was a bluish-white haze and the colt dropped from his hand; and then it all went black.

**0000000000**

Bela hadn't intended to follow him back into the club.

But she did.

Bela hadn't intended to stand there in harms way, a few feet away from a demon that could snap her neck like a twig.

But she did that too. She rationalized that all she had to so was wait for Sam to shoot it with the Colt, and then she could collect the other half of her payment and would be good to go, on her way to Nepal to see about a demonic pendant for sale that would be worth millions once she got a hold of it. She had a buyer that was willing to overpay for it by nearly five hundred thousand dollars.

Bela didn't intend--didn't expect--to care when it knocked Sam to the ground and wrapped its talon-like claws around his neck.

But she did.

_No, she didn't. She didn't care at all._

It was a job. The colt was in perfect reach. She could kill the demon, collect her payment, and escape with the colt…_all is fair in love and war, right?_

As it proceeded to set Sam in the other chair, waiting for the moment where his soul would be forfeit, Bela shot at it.

She didn't miss, she rarely ever missed.

She glanced down at Sam, he was breathing, he'd survive…this one at least. "You're welcome." She told him.

**0000000000**

Dean came to consciousness slowly with a headache that beat any hangover he'd ever had. He felt like he went ten rounds with a block of concrete and had his ass kicked. As he looked up at saw Bela standing across from him he realized that the freaky nightmare about a woman with double D's and bat wings clearly had not been a nightmare. Or it was a nightmare, just a really bad one…he couldn't believe he let a freakin' succubi get the better of him.

"Where's Sam?" He managed.

"Same you were about five minutes ago." Bela told him, gesturing to the chair to his left. "Don't worry, he should be fine."

Dean groaned, "So…"

"Don't strain yourself to thank me." Bela said, tossing him the colt. "I don't need it. Just call us even. I owe the two of you nothing."

"Okay." Dean said, feeling like he'd missed a step. She was angry…_with him_? At least she seemed angry, or bitter, but then again, this was Bela why was he surprised. She was a bitch…_who just saved your life, _the voice in his head reminded him. The same bitch who cold have stolen the colt and…didn't? Dean really was sure he had to have missed something, or else this was apparently the one that got away.

"You might want to remind your brother…Faust wasn't just a legend."

Bela walked away without another word, leaving the brother's in silence, Dean trying to figure out what she meant by Faust. He knew he heard it before, he just couldn't place it.

Sam would though.

* * *

_Wow, so this is officially my longest posted chapter ever! I hope you enjoyed, and I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and its not over yet, one last chapter is in the works for this fic. Thanks for reading!_

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

_**

* * *

**_

Au Contraire

_**-5-**_

_Authors Note: This was intended to be the last chapter but I realized there was just still too much that had to be addressed and so as of now there's not exactly a cap on when it'll end…took me awhile because I wanted to change some things after seeing the finale but…damn it, there was a point in there somewhere…sticks tongue out at self silly girl…anyhow, enjoy, and more to come in the hopefully near future. Oh! And even though its probably pretty obvious by this point: flashbacks, italics, yeah? _

* * *

**Three Months Later **

When Dean fell asleep--or perhaps, passed out--in his bed was a more accurate description, Sam relaxed slightly.

He'd finally figured it out, how to save Dean. He had to admit that he owed a great majority of this fact to Bela, if it hadn't been for the translations she'd acquired and e-mailed him...he knew he'd still be at square one.

Sam sat back in the chair with a groan, waiting to be sure that Dean was good and asleep before he left. The only problem with this whole waiting thing was that it left him with time and nothing to think about except the decisions he'd made. He knew how to save his brother, that much he was certain about. What he wasn't certain about was how to deal with what had happened between him and Bela.

He got to know the other side of her, and he fell for her. He fell hard, he loved her. And then it got all fucked up when it fell into the crosshairs of Dean's deal.

Did she feel the same way? He had no idea, she helped him though...and he couldn't help but to feel that even though she had started it; he had been terrified when she mentioned the Goetia...keeping the plan secret from Dean was more necessary than anything because if Dean knew...Dean would never let him do it.

Maybe when it was all over he could apologize, maybe he could explain, and maybe she...he didn't know. Maybe she'd love him.

Or maybe not.

Sam glanced from Dean, to the clock, and back to Dean.

Time's up.

_Sam turned over in the bed, admittedly realizing that it was actually kind of amazing compared to the places he and his brother spent their time in. But who the hell was he kidding, the company definitely beat the accommodations. He wondered if maybe they were wrong about Bela all along...maybe they could trust her. That maybe his intuition was right, and Dean was wrong, and he could completely justify the fact that he was falling for someone Dean thinks is just about on the same evil as whatever demon holds his contract...god knows, he needs to justify the way he feels somehow._

_"Hey." Bela said with a slight smile, slipping on a blue silk robe. _

_"Make yourself comfortable Sam, I'm going to see about some room service. Something sweet...and some wine, do you have a preference, I was thinking...gruner veltliner?"_

_"A dry riesling, Austrian. Good spring choice." Sam replied._

_"Impressive." Bela was surprised. "You have fantastic taste." _

_"Shocking, of course." Sam said, with a teasing smile. Sam turned serious as she smiled, finding himself wondering fleetingly how genuine it was, sometimes he just couldn't tell with her. He hated that every word, every movement with her, he didn't know whether to take it at face value or be second guessing it. "We should talk." He said._

_"I am." Bela said, " I'm going to go talk to room service." _

_"Bela." Sam's tone was flat, they had to figure this out. He had to, he couldn't just leave and have this...floating like it was, maybe Dean was right, maybe he thought like a chick but if she felt the same way...it was important to him._

_But maybe it was just some kind of desperation for a human connection, his inner Sigmund Freud, taunted him, Dean might die, maybe he was just searching for something to cling to and it was just sex. Desperation to have someone out there in the world aside from his brother._

_"Sam, we are having fun. Don't ruin it, okay?" Bela told--_asked_--him._

_She walked away to make the call for room service and Sam found himself alone in the master bedroom._

"Do you have it?" Bela demanded.

The hunter handed her a grimy envelope and she handled it disdainfully, looking inside to check.

"It's there." He told her, "Now, I want the rest of my payment."

It was, not like she'd trust a hunter though. Especially him, he made Gordon Walker look like Mother freakin' Teresa.

Bela picked up her phone dialed a number, talked for a moment to the person of the other end of the line, then she nodded her head, slipped away her phone and replied,

"The other half is being wired into your account," She looked up at him to find a shotgun pointed at her forehead.

"You really think I'm going to let go of that? With war coming like it is?" He kept the gun trained on her.

Bela dropped the envelope at his feet, when he bent down to grab it she pulled her gun out of her bag and shot him in the back of the head. "No."

She picked her envelope off of the ground, "I never really thought anyone was that stupid, but with you it was a toss up."

_As Bela looked down at Sam, seeing that serious face, those gorgeous brown eyes looking back at her, questioning, she felt her stomach drop. _

_This was the beginning of the end._

_She might love him, she's not sure but when she woke up curled up against his body, his hand circling her waist, she felt happy, a real sort of happy not the kind of regular animalistic post-sex happy she was so familiar with. She almost didn't recognize it, she hadn't felt that way in years. It was scary, and dangerous, and territory she didn't even want to think about venturing into--never mind _actually _venture into but...she was letting her guard down. She realized it from the moment she slipped to him her big secret, she was setting herself up for it._

**0000000000**

When he woke up and Sam was gone he didn't really think twice as it was early morning and Sam had offered to make the coffee run that morning as yesterday when Dean did, Sam complained that Dean had ordered his half-caf vanilla mocha something-or-another wrong. So Dean just rolled back over cursing the early morning and the crazy people that got up at such an ungodly hour by choice. Getting up before the sun just didn't hold the same appeal to him that it did to Sam.

When he woke back up again three hours later with the bright sun glaring in his eyes through the open curtains he swore angrily, he'd closed those when he went to bed and he was going to kill Sam. Hangover accompanied by bright sun and lack of coffee did not make him feel nice thoughts toward his brother. His anger quickly dissipated though as it hit him. No coffee. He'd woken up hours ago to the sight of no Sam, making the assumption he'd went for coffee. He heard no water running so Sam couldn't be showering and the room was completely silent. His fear gnawed at his stomach, creating a pit that made him nauseous.

Where was his brother?

**0000000000**

Dean called his brother's phone a few times before he realized it was sitting on the bedside table, silently vibrating with each call. Sam would never leave without his phone. It was the number one rule with the Winchesters. Even if they were angry with one another...they _always_ had their phones. Their line of work was too dangerous not to.

And it wasn't like Sam would just leave like this with no word to him about it. Dean had seven days left...just one lousy week.

"Sam, where the hell are you?" He asked his voice quiet and scared. The last time his brother had gone missing was Cold Oak. Dean refused to let Cold Oak happen all over again. He'd worked too hard, and given up too much for that. They had his soul, fine, whatever, but he wouldn't let them have Sam.

**0000000000**

Dean slammed the door to the motel room angrily. Angry at himself, angry at the owner who hadn't seen a trace of Sam, angry that he had no idea where to find his brother.

_Scared_.

Dean grabbed his brother's phone, checking the messages for some hint of anything. He half-wished to find some trace that Sam was off on some new venture to try and save him from the pit because that would mean that he could be angry at him, he could be pissed at his little brother screwing things right to hell, and not terrified for his life.

_Fourteen messages? What in the hell... _

Sam checked his phone so attentively that Dean was sure he had things organized and alphabetized in cute—and annoyingly anal retentive—little folders. Not keeping up with his messages wasn't like Sam.

"_This is your wireless provider calling to offer you--" _

"No." Dean said, clicking forward, praying for the first time in a long time…he needed something, anything.

"_Hey Sam, Becky here--" _

Dean as thrown for moment, not having realized that even after all this time, after everything, that Sam was still keeping in touch with the Stanford people. Three years...something about it made him feel slightly better, like when he was gone, he wouldn't be leaving Sam completely alone; like Sam could go back to trying to have that normal life he so desperately wanted.

"_God damn it, Sam. I'm going out of my way to try and help you with this fucking thing, really, the least you could do is return my calls. I put my ass on the line getting that damn thing for you." _

Click.

Dean knew that tone, he knew that voice.

Bela.

He'd be damned, his brother was working with...friggin' Bela? To get him out of the deal? Dean didn't know, all he knew was at the very least...this was the closest he had to a lead on Sam

**0000000000**

Dean continued to rifle through the messages as he got in the impala, trying to find Bela's current number, as the one she had given him was naturally disconnected. Nothing in the address book, and most of the messages seemed to be along the same line, and Dean became more and more confused as he listened to each one.

"_Sam call me." _

"_I didn't have to care, and you know frankly, I don't know if I give a damn__,__ but I think I can help you with whatever you're screwing around with at the Crossroads."_

"_Sam, please call me." _

The last one was pleading, Dean would almost dare say she sounded worried, but impossible. He didn't even understand how Bela could know any of this, or why she'd help; it sure as hell hadn't been her style with them—unless of course helping them benefited her in some way.

"_You're wrong about __what you've found in the Goetia--call me__." _

What the hell? How did she know about that book...that book had never left his car.

_Make yourself scarce...he was in that mansion with her for a long time...research...Bela riding his brother at that club and laughing...Bela saving their asses (and other appendages)...Faust...she didn't __disappear__ with the colt when she could have...tell Sam..._

"No." He said aloud, to himself. There was no way, no damn way. Even if Sam would sleep with the self serving bitch; he'd never tell her what was going on.

_Sam__and__Bela__Sam__and__Bela__Sam__and__Bela_

It was her damn fault, whatever was happening, he blamed that bitch for it.

_Maybe she loves him?_

_Maybe he loves her._

No fucking way.

On a whim, Dean grabbed Sam's phone again and pressed the talk button, letting it redial the last number called.

"Its about god damn time Sam." Bela's tone was angry.

Good, Dean thought, he was pissed too._Join the friggin' club._

"What in the hell are you doing with my brother Bela?" Dean asked.

There was silence for a moment. "Dean?"

**0000000000**

"You made a deal with a crossroads demon." Bela reiterated Dean's words slowly, carefully as if she was dissecting them or just biding the time until she came up with a smart ass comment to make him feel even more like an idiot for what he'd done, _for coming to her for help_.

"Yeah." He said watching her carefully. Bela seemed genuine enough but she'd screwed them over before. "Sam's missing. I woke up this morning and he was gone."

Bela went pale at his words. "I warned him." She said, unable to help the worry; that was bad, it was really, really bad.

"What?" Dean demanded, having way too many questions and not half enough answers to explain any of this. "What did you warn him about?"

"Well, I imagine you know about it much better than I do." Bela said. "Going after the crossroads demon, and her boss...its suicide."

_Jesus_...Dean swore. I wasn't suicide, it was worse...Sam was still trying to save his life and it was going to get him killed. Well, he had news for Sam...he wasn't going to let him do that. He'd been in this game for twenty-seven years, _a lifetime, _he couldn't do it alone--he wouldn't.

"Damn it!" Dean swore, why couldn't Sam just listen to him? Why couldn't he just let things be and let him die? "We weren't hunting the friggin' bitch..."

"Oh my god." Bela said as it all clicked in her mind. "I never actually thought...the rumors _are _true. _You _made a deal with her. You sold your soul."

Dean didn't deny it. He had less than two days left, he accepted his fate.

"You idiot." She breathed softly, _unbelievable_. "What? What did you get? Revenge on the demon? The Colt?"

"Listen," Dean told her, he didn't want anything from her aside from her explanation of just what it was she was doing with Sam. All he'd wanted was to find out what all the calls meant, because right now they were his only lead to finding Sam. "I didn't come here to get bitched out by someone who obviously isn't even capable of having some sort of real emotional connection with anyone...I'm _sure _you can't understand it but...Sam is my brother, the only family I have left and I will do _anything _to protect him."

"You'd be surprised by just how much I could actually understand." Bela said softly, standing up and walking away from Dean, lingering in front of the fireplace.

_...they turned her into a vampire. When I found out I hunted her, and I killed her. I chopped my sister's head off..._

Right, of course, Dean thought, getting up. He should have known better than to really, truly, expect any kind of substantial help from Bela.

"Wait." Bela said, stopping him from leaving.

Bela lingered in front of the fireplace, as if she couldn't decide what her next course of action would be, so Dean turned to look at her. As much as he hated to admit it, she really was his only lead in finding Sam right now.

"What?" Dean asked.

"Why?" She asked him, "Why'd you do it?"

She'd bet millions that she'd been wrong, and all those psychos touting their rumors about the Winchesters were right.

"Hunters are nothing more than revenge craved lunatics." She said quietly, repeating her earlier sentiments.

Dean looked at her, really looked at her…his people skills may need work, but if there was one thing he was familiar with it was saying something and trying to make yourself believe it.

"I'm surprised." She said lightly."All this 'family is everything' and you'd leave your brother alone just for revenge. Nothing is worth giving up your soul—that's a whole different kind of hell that I don't even want to imagine. Nothing is worth that."

Dean shrugged, looking away from her. "You'd be surprised." He replied, echoing her earlier statement, but she was right in a way, he was leaving Sam alone. He'd give anything for it not to have played out this way but he couldn't be the one to do it alone. It was selfish and unfair but he couldn't.

"Well, its interesting. All those cryptic questions from your brother...actually completely makes sense. He was trying to break _you_ from your deal. And here I thought he was playing roulette with demons. It _was _revenge wasn't it?"

"Bela!" Dean was getting worried it had been hours now. "Please. You owe us. In case you forgot, we saved your life."

"And I compensated you for it, and just so happened to save your sorry ass and a few other appendages." Bela finished. "Sorry, but I happen to enjoy staying alive. I told you...hunters are nothing more than revenge craved lunatics. Clearly you're no different."

Bela turned back to the mantle, glancing at her reflection in a mirror that cost her over a million dollars and made her miserable. Every time she looked at it, she was reminded that she hated the person who looked back at her.

"Even Sam?" Dean tried, trying to ignore what an idiot he had to have been to miss it. He could tell though, even though she put on her best bitch face, she cared about his brother.

Bela stopped in her tracks, not turning back to look at him. "Of course. Hunters are all the same..." _except Sam wasn't. _"I don't even care Dean, you two want to play with demons...knock yourselves out. Revenge isn't what its cracked up to be though."

"It wasn't about revenge." Dean finally said as she started to walk away.

She stopped in her tracks and looked back at him. "What then? What is worth eternity in hell to Dean Winchester?"

"Does it matter?"

"Listen Dean, I have a deal that needs closing." What those boys did was none of her business anymore, right? Sam had made that much clear. If he didn't want her help when she'd offered it...and yet, she couldn't help but to be worried about him.

_Sure she could, just don't care. It used to be easy, and then Sam Winchester had fucked everything she knew and felt and thought right to hell. Well, fuck him._

Except it wasn't that easy, was it?

Dean might not believe it, she wasn't even sure if Sam did entirely, but she cared about him, she cared about him more than she wished she did--she loved him. The question was, did she care enough to put her heart, and maybe even her life, back on the line?

"Look, I know you and I don't get along and you don't even care if I live or die, but you do care about Sam...or at least you did. If you don't help me, I don't know if I can save him, and I can't watch my brother die again." Once the words left his mouth, he'd realized what he'd said. He was sure it would only take a moment for her to piece together what his admission meant.

Bela turned back to look at him as the admission clicked, the rumors were true. "Fuck." She breathed so quietly, she barely heard herself.

"You idiot." She murmured, unable to believe the ridiculous rumors were true. "Morons both of you. You sold your soul for you brothers life."

"Hey! You know what, I don't need the judgment of some unfeeling bitch, okay? I did what I had to do."

"You did what you wanted to do." Bela said ignoring the insult.

"You told Sam you knew things about this deal thing. What were you going to tell him?"

"He was wrong about what he found in the book—well not wrong entirely, just...incomplete."

"What the hell does that mean?"

Bela turned back to her mantelpiece, and removed an amulet from a small box, dropping it into Dean's hand.

"I called him, tried to tell him...he was missing this."


End file.
